diff --git a/lisp/dired.el b/lisp/dired.el
index 1b6da1f9617..7839ace8030 100644
--- a/lisp/dired.el
+++ b/lisp/dired.el
@@ -2610,7 +2610,9 @@ it occurs in the buffer, and a value of t means construct name relative to
 Optional arg NO-ERROR-IF-NOT-FILEP means treat `.' and `..' as
 regular filenames and return nil if no filename on this line.
 Otherwise, an error occurs in these cases."
-  (let ((hidden (dired-subdir-hidden-p (dired-current-directory)))
+  (let ((hidden (and dired-subdir-alist
+                     (dired-subdir-hidden-p
+                      (dired-current-directory))))
 	case-fold-search file p1 p2 already-absolute)
     (when hidden
       (dired-unhide-subdir))